RALPH H. BROWN DAY DINNER Campus Club Name(s) _ Buffet ($17.50) __ - or - Vegetarian Buffet ($17.50) _ Field Trip ($10) __ Total Enclosed: $ _ Please make checks payable to: R.H. Skaggs Please return this card and payment by May I, 1991 to: Brown Day Committee Department of Geography University of Minnesota Minn:apolis ~N 55455 (return em'eloped enclosed) POST-BROWN DAY FIELD TRIP The first annual, traditional Brown Day Field Trip will be held on Saturday, May 11. Dr. Phil Gersmehl will lead the outing, giving the participants a running commentary on the geography of the southern and eastern exurbs of the metro area. We will cover close to 200 miles, passing through Northfield, Red Wing, and River Falls. A coach-type bus with WC will carry us on our way. Departure will be at 9:00 a.m. from the lot south of Wilson Library. We should be back at approximately 4:30 p.m. Lunch is not provided. A lunch stop will be made at a generic, roadside, fast food establishment in Red Wing. ';r The cost is $10. Payment should be made with the dinner reservation card. ',- Please feel free to come even if you are unable to attend the dinner the previous evening. .--.. All, friends, family, or whoever, are welcome. .•..:J :n<1\ Questions? Call Todd Benson at 612-625-0543 or 612-379-8446. ~) .:> Department of Geography University of Minnesota Ralph H. Brown· Brown Day 1991 BROWN DAY 1991 Friday, May 10 Schedule of Events 11 :00 am Open House 12:00 pm Potluck buffet Brown Room, 448Social Science West Bank Campus 1:00 - 3:00 pm Open House 3:00 - 3:30 pm Coffee Hour refreshments West Bank Auditorium West Bank Campus 3:30 pm Ralph H. Brown Lecture Michael Williams Reader in Geography Oxford University West Bank Auditorium Willey Hall West Bank Campus 4:30 - 5:30 pm Reception in honor of Professor Williams Fireplace Room Willey Hall 6:30 - 7:30 pm Social Hour (cash bar) Campus Club Coffman Memorial Union East Bank Campus 7:30 pm Buffet and program Campus Club You are cordially invited to attend the 1990 RALPH H. BROWN DAY DINNER AND PROGRAM Campus Club Coffman Memorial Union East Bank Campus Friday, May 10,1991 6:30 p.m. r.s.v.p. by May 1 (return envelope enclosed) buffet menu Sliced Baked Ham Beef Stroganoff Baked Lasagne (meat or vegetarian) Rice Pilaf Green Beans Almondine Assorted Salads Ice Cream Wine Department of Geography University of Minnesota Ralph H. Brown Brown Day Newsletter 1991 NEWS FROM THE DEPARTMENT This past year has seen two changes in the faculty. Russell Adams retired at Christmas after 27 years teaching in the department. His contributions to the economic geography curriculum and to our teaching on the former Soviet bloc will be missed: both. by us and by other departments here which have come to depend on his courses. We are grateful to Russ for all his contributions over the years, and hope that we will continue to see him around the department. Robert McMaster, a computer cartography and GIS specialist, has joined us from Syracuse. His impact has been immediate; both personally, as his energy has forced the rest of us to re-examine several things we have been taking for granted; and technically, as his presence has led to a massive increase in the number of computing terminals in the department. We now have a Digital Cartography Lab, with 20 Macintosh lis, and another room with three brand new IBMs and three SUN SPARC stations. Now we have to figure out a way to use them all! As a consquence, there have been significant changes in the spatial organization of the department that would make it seem unfamiliar to those who have not visited us in the last five years. One thing that we still lack, other than room for new students and faculty, is word processing equipment for students of the department. While faculty have been willing to pass on their hand-me-downs to students, these remain quantitatively and qualitatively inadequate for their needs, both in research and as teaching assistants. Our exchange with University College London successfully continued its fourth year this last fall with the visit here of Hugh Prince, in exchange for Helga Leitner and Eric Sheppard who stayed long enough back in Europe to bring about the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. Several faculty have ongoing externally funded research projects, including: John Adams, Philip Gersmehl, Mei-Ling Hsu, and Eric Sheppard. Two faculty have been involved in editing journals. Eric Sheppard ended his six-year term as co-editor of Antipode, and Bob McMaster has become editor of Cartography and Geographic Information Systems. Richard Skaggs valiantly continues to serve as secretary to the Association of American Geographers. Several of our graduate students have entered, or are entering, academic employment. This includes: Bryan Baker (Oklahoma State University), Sheryl Beach (Humboldt State University, CAl, Janet Drake (University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire), Richard Greene (Northern Illinois University), Tom Harvey (Portland State University), Liu Jian-yi (University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire), Frank Pucci (Millersville University, PAl, and Claire Pavlik (University of Iowa). Others have been successful in obtaining fellowships to support their study and research: Greg Flay (NSF Dissertation Research Grant). Elisaheth Binder (Wallace Fellowship), Paul Plummer (D. H. Davis Fellowship 1990-91), Todd Benson <D. H. Davis Fellowship 1991-92), Eric Anderson (John Borchert Fellowship 1990-9\), Paul Plummer (John Borchert Fellowship 1991-92), and Bryan Baker (Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship). Congratulations to all of you! For the third year in a row, we have had an exciting sequence of visitors on a single theme in addition to the usual complement of Friday afternoon coffee hour speakers. These visits have not only generated interesting lectures, but have also included two to three hour Saturday morning seminars ~here both graduate students and faculty have grilled the visitors about their research. These have been a major source of intellectual debate in the department. After visitors' programs on the Future of the American City (1988-89, honoring John Borchert's retirement), and the Contemporary Geography of the People's Republic of China (1989-90), this year's topic is Geography and Social Theory with visits by Ed Soja (UCLA), Larry Grossman (VPISUy, Margaret Fitzsimmons (UCLA), Mark Goudiener (UC Riverside), and Derek Gregory (UBC). Next year, in honor of the retirement of Fred Lukermann, the theme will be Geography among the Sciences. The Department faces some significant Ghallenges in the next few years. The University is undergoing a significant. restructuring which is supposed to bring a substantial amount of extra money to the College. At the same time, however, a massive state budget deficit has led the governor to suggest that the budget of the university be cut in absolute terms by some $30-50 million. Faced with these confusing signals it is difficult to determine how the department should act; suffice it to say that we will have to be ready to respond quickly to a rapidly changing and contradictory situation. We are therefore collectively practicing the art of patting our heads, rubbing our stomachs and being geographers, all at the same time. Through it all, we continue to be held together by Margaret Rasmussen's expertise and by Bonnie William's competence as secretary for graduate student affairs. We have been sad to see the departure of the student assistants' dynamic duo of Liz Barosko and Emily (Munson) de Rotstein from our front office; who we thank for their tremendous contributions and wish all the best whether it be in school or on the job market. We owe all four of them, and others who have helped out at various times, our sincere gratitude. I personally want to thank everyone in the department for their contributions to our successes this year, as well as their willingness to share the burden of our difficulties. PUBLICATIONS Philip Gersmehl 1990 (with J. Young and C. Komoto) The uInguage ofMaps: A Distance Learning Course, University of Minnesota, Department of Independent Study, ii + 202 pp. 1990 Choosing Tools: Nine Metaphors in Four-Dimensional Cartography, Cartographic Perspectil'es 5:3-17. 1990 (J. Young, senior author) Geography of the SOl'iet Union: An Independent Study Course (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Department of Independent Study, Continuing Education and Extension), iii + 215 pp. 1990 (with D. Brown), Geographic differences in the validity of a linear scale of "innale soil productivity," Joumal ofSoil and Water Conserl'ation, 379-382. 199 I Computer-assisted map animation: a review of six software packages, American Cartographer, in press.. ,,' 1991 (c. Komoto, senior author) Serial Criminal or Copycat: A Hands-On Activity for Teaching Scale and Distance Analysis, Journal ofGeography, in press. 1991 (B. Baker, senior author) Temporal Trends in Soil Productivity Evaluation, The Professional Geographer, in press. 1991 The Montgomery County Line and the Hosmer Silt Loam: A Microcosm of American Farm Policy Problems, Janelle, Donald G., ed., Geographical Snapshots ofNarth America. in press. 1991 (with D. Brown) Chapter 9: Observation, in Abler, R. Marcus, and Olson, J., eds., Geography's Inlier World, in. press. John Fraser Hart John Fraser Hart, "Canons of Good Editorship," Professional Geographer, August 1990, pp. 354-58. John Fraser Hart, "Once Rooted, Towns Seem to Keep on Growing," Minnesota Journal. November 20. 1990. John Fraser Hart, "It Hasn't Been Easy, But MMUA Towns Have Been Growing Since They Were Founded," News & Views: Newsleuer of the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association, January 1991, pp. 10-15. John Fraser Hart, "Population and the Labor Force," Chapter I of The Great Lakes Economy (Chicago: Federal Reserve Bank, in press).